A Shadow of Time
by Stupidfic
Summary: Shadow changes the past to save Maria's life, but how will this effect the world he once knew?
1. Rewriting The Past

Shadow the Hedgehog sighed. It was another normal day for the ultimate life-form, which means he had nothing to do but stand around and ponder about life. Currently, Shadow was standing by a cliff top, watching the sun set over a large canyon. Maria would have loved this…

"No!" the black hedgehog shouted to himself "don't think about her! Don't look into the past!"

But he couldn't help it. His mind reminded him about what happen to the girl, how she died trying to save him. Shadow missed Maria greatly, he couldn't deny it. If only she didn't die, if only he could turn back time.

Then it occurred to Shadow that he CAN turn back time! He took out two Chaos Emerald he found in his traveling and held one in each hand. They glowed with powerful energy, energy the ultimate life-form knows greatly about.

But should he do this? Should he change history when all is well? He knew it would be risky, but the thoughts of Maria clouded his concentration.

"CHAOS CONTROL!"

Soon enough, a time portal appeared before him. Not having second thoughts anymore, Shadow jumped into the portal.

The next thing he saw was a corridor of the space colony Ark. From what he guessed, this was the day when G.U.N. came and all hell broke lose. Footsteps were heard, and Shadow hid behind a box as a researcher walked by. This mission wouldn't be easy now that the black hedgehog would have to use stealth as people seeing another Shadow would cause trouble.

He whizzed through the space station when nobody was around and stopped to look out a window. Beyond the window was Earth, and heading to the space colony was seemed to a G.U.N. space shuttle.

"That is most definitely filled with soldiers out to get me" Shadow said "I have to save Maria before they arrive."

The ultimate life-form ran while trying to find his human friend. He remembered hanging out with Maria in her bedroom before the attack, so she and his past self must be there. Shadow blazed down a hallway and peeked around a corner. He saw himself and his female buddy walk out of the bedroom, laughing about some joke Shadow never really thought was funny. Time was running out, and he couldn't just go up to them and say Maria is going to die. Guess he'll have to do things the Shadow way.

He grabbed one of his emeralds and said "chaos control!"

With the power of only a single emerald, time stood still around Shadow. He grabbed the practically frozen bodies of the hedgehog and girl and went to the escape pods. Shadow carefully placed the two on the ground of a pod then closed the escape pod. As soon as he did that, time unfroze and he could heard confusion from inside the pod.

"Huh?" gasped the voice of Maria "how did we get here all of a sudden?"

"I don't know" replied Shadow from the past.

The Shadow of the future went to the control panel and pressed the 'launch' button. The escape pod blasted off into outer space and heading to Earth. And thankfully, the pod wasn't blown to pieces by the oncoming G.U.N. shuttle. Now that his work here was done, Shadow was ready to go home.

"Chaos control!" the ultimate life-form yelled, holding the Chaos emeralds in each hand.

Another portal opened up, and just in time. The sound of screaming and gun fire was heard close by and he had no reason to stick around. He went into the warp hole, awaiting to see what difference he made in the present.

-

To be continued.


	2. Present Day

In an alley of an unknown metropolis, a portal opened and released a hedgehog before closing. The hedgehog, Shadow, looked for his emeralds and found they were gone. They probably went to another location, the emeralds always seem to do that. Shadow walked out of the alley and went to check to see if Maria was still alive. However, he stopped in his tracks.

Something wasn't right. The city appeared normal, but the thousands of people walking around acted different. The civilians' clothes were nearly identical, and they all seemed peaceful. Usually there is some ticked off guy honking his horn when traffic is in his way, but not in this city. It was orderly, too orderly.

The ultimate life-form ran around town to see what else was different. He didn't look where he was going and bumped into someone.

"Oh sorry" Shadow apologized. Looking closely at the girl he collided into, he said "Amy?"

Indeed, it was Amy Rose. She wasn't wearing her regular clothes, and neither was she wearing what everyone else had on. It was a pink robe with lots of frills on it.

"Your apology is accepted" the female hedgehog said in a calm matter "if may excuse me now, I must worship to the greatest being I love most."

Shadow asked "Sonic? I don't think you'll get the reaction you desired with that get-up."

"Sonic?!" scoffed Amy "don't be ridiculous! I am talking about the almighty goddess of course!"

Before Shadow could reply back, Amy Rose danced around in circles while screaming at the top of her lungs.

"ALL HAIL THE ALMIGHTY GODDESS! SHE HAS GIVEN US LIFE AND WE ARE THANKFUL FOR HER ACTIONS! MAY MARIA ROBOTNIK BLESS US ALL WITH HER GLORIOUS LIGHT!"

Shadow's eyes widen. "Wait, Maria is a goddess? Impossible!"

Amy stopped acting crazy and slowly turned her head to the black hedgehog. "What. Did. You. Say?"

"Maria is not a goddess."

Unfortunately, Shadow didn't what he got himself into. The female took out her hammer and whacked Shadow multiple times.

"YOU DOUBT OUR GODDESS!!!" she screamed "HERETIC! HERETIC!!!"

The black hedgehog tried to calm the pink one down, but it was nearly impossible. Since he was too busy trying to stop Amy from bashing his brains out, he never noticed the oncoming laser heading straight for him! It hit its target and Shadow fell to the ground. He wasn't dead, but he couldn't move a muscle. Amy stopped hitting him as robots grabbed him and sent him off somewhere.

-

To be continued.


	3. Don't Drop The Soap!

It took a couple minutes for the robots to carry the hedgehog cargo to their destination. They entered a large building and threw Shadow to the floor. Shadow was still paralyzed, but the effects weaken so that could now move his head and talk. He heard someone walking in front of him, so looked up to see the Chaotix wearing black masks.

"Well what do we have here?" spoke the green reptile known as Vector. "It's been awhile that we punished someone. What are your crimes?"

Shadow said softly "I don't know."

Vector kicked him and repeated the question. When the hedgehog gave the same answer, Vector decided to get information from the robots that brought in the prisoner. A few beeps from the machines and the alligator had a mischievous grin.

"Heresy, is it?" Vector chuckled "no wonder why you acted all stupid! Espio, Charmy, take this heretic to cell 653. I'm going to get everything prepared."

The chameleon and bee nodded, and dragged the ultimate life-form through a dozen or so hallways. Soon enough, Shadow was placed into a jail cell. As the guards left, he noticed there was somebody in a cell next to his. It was a female animal, but Shadow couldn't tell what species she was due to the fact she was horribly bruised and beaten.

"Why hello there" the animal said in a sexy voice, before coughing and wheezing.

"Hi" was all Shadow said. Since he was still unable to move and had nothing else to do, he might as well start a conversation. "So… what are you in here for?"

After coughing a few more times then spitting a loogie against the wall, the female replied "nothing much, really. I tried stealing a priceless gem but I got caught in the end. I knew I shouldn't have done it, but I can't resist the beauty of jewels!"

The hedgehog's eyes widen. The seducing speaking, the love of jewels, this was the Rouge the bat! "What have they done to you?" he asked quietly.

Rouge sighed and said "they punished me for doing a bad deed. Its what they do to everyone around here. One time, some bird brained group called the Babylon Rogues trespassed into private property, and for their punishment was to be roasted to fried chicken. I used to be quite attractive to say the least, but now my loveliness has been taken away. These people are sadistic and cruel, and you will suffer for your crime. Speaking of which, what did you do to get in here?"

Shadow answered "I spoke against Maria or something like that."

The horribly beaten bat's jaw dropped. "Heresy?! Well good riddance to you then!"

"Wait, what?" the confused Shadow reacted to the bat's change of heart.

"It's one thing to torture someone for stealing or trespassing, it's another for disrespecting the almighty goddess! She has given us all we could ever want and you repay her with lack of faith?! May you rot in sewage, you sinful bastard!"

That was the last the two would ever speak to each other. Five minutes later, the purple lizard and yellow and black striped bug opened Shadow's cell.

Espio spoke emotionlessly "it is time."

"Yeah!" added Charmy "time to SUFFER!!!"

The chameleon smacked his partner at the back of his head. Then they went back to business and dragged Shadow through a few more hallways. They went in a nearly empty room where two female rabbits awaited for Shadow. One of the rabbits was an adult, while another a mere child. Both had executioner masks over their faces. Between them was a wooden box, which snarling noises could be heard. Espio and Charmy left the black hedgehog in the center of the room and left.

The adult rabbit said to Shadow "for committing heresy against the goddess, you are hereby sentenced to death by energy drainage. Cream, you know to do."

The younger rabbit named Cream opened up the wooden box. "Oh Cheese and Chocola!" she said in a singsong voice "someone wants to play with you!"

Two Chao came out from the box, growling and foaming from the mouth. They saw Shadow lying on the floor and walked toward him. When they got close enough, the cute critters opened their mouths and impaled their fangs into Shadow's skin.

The hedgehog winced in pain, feeling his essence getting sucked out of him. He heard that Chao could absorb energy from small animals, but he never thought they could drain large animals. Shadow was still paralyzed, helpless to stop the little vampires from feasting on him. Struggling with his depleting life force, Shadow closed his eyes and focused. He escaped from paralysis before, he could do it again. Concentrating deeply, the hedgehog's limbs slowly began to respond. Shadow suddenly performed a spin dash, knocking off the Chao off of him and ran out from the room.

Cream shouted "mom, he's escaping!"

Cream's mother replied "don't just stand there, alert the security!"

Meanwhile, the ultimate life-form was looking for a way out of the maze of cells. He felt extremely tired due to the Chao nearly sucking the life out of him, but he wasn't calling it quits. Up ahead, Team Chaotix blocked the way.

"Halt!" yelled Vector.

Shadow ignored the alligator and knocked them all down, like a bowling ball would do to a couple of bowling pins. He found the exit to the prison and got out, only to find dozens of robots waiting for him. Laser shots were fired, and from the looks of things they weren't ones that stunned. The hedgehog veered left and right, dodging all the projectiles attended for him. He blazed between the shooting metallic crowd and caused robots to get wrecked from crossfire.

The black hedgehog was free from the prison area, but the mechs were still after him which he could tell from the lasers whizzing passed his head. The runaway fugitive took a sharp turn on a corner to the next street, and hid inside a nearly empty trashcan. The robots soon flew by, believing the heretic was still fleeing down the road. It wasn't before long the androids were out of sight. Shadow took a sigh of relief and relaxed in the smelly garbage bin.

-

To be continued.


	4. Gun And Run

A trashcan fell over and a black hedgehog rolled out from the inside. Shadow groaned as he stood up, hiding in the garbage for three hours made his back rather sore. Eyeing for any robots or crazy civilians looking after him, Shadow the hedgehog found none around. But he did find a cloaked man waving at him on the other side of the street.

"Psst!" the man loudly whispered "over here!"

The ultimate life-form wondered who the guy was. A bounty hunter in disguise, perhaps? Then again, Shadow could easily beat the human to a pulp, so he might as well see what the person wants. He looked both ways of the street, then quickly ran up to the man in the cloak.

Surprised by the animal's sudden speed, the human said "nice legs you got there. You're the escaped heretic that the news has been reporting about. Impressive, very impressive. Come with me."

The man touched a brick on a nearby wall and a hidden passageway opened up. The human went in, but Shadow didn't.

"How do I know you not just some guy wanting to take back to prison?" questioned the hedgehog.

"Believe me" said the cloaked guy "I hate that place as much as you do. Now hurry up before someone sees us!"

Shadow complied and went inside, the entrance behind him closing up. After walking down a flight of stairs, the two arrived in an empty subway station with a train waiting for them. They went inside and the man pressed some buttons on a control panel. The train was soon moving and continued to accelerate.

The man spoke to Shadow "next stop, R.U.N. headquarters!"

The train moved through a very long tunnel. It must have stretched a hundred miles or so, with nothing but darkness up ahead.

"You say you hated prison" said Shadow "were you a criminal as well?"

The human shook his head "nope, not at all. I was a farmer you see, producing crops for Maria's blessing. One day I couldn't produce enough vegetables due to some bad weather. The lack of food was considered my fault, and so I was imprisoned and punished. They… tore me up from limb to limb."

"Limb to limb? You seem perfectly…"

That's when the human took off his cloak, and Shadow stopped talking. The man was a cyborg, with his torso and arms and legs completely robotic. With the ultimate life-form shocked by the sight of the human more machine than organic, the man put his cloak back on.

"This 'body' is the only thing keeping me alive" spoke the cloaked man "ever since, I wanted revenge on those who tortured me, I wanted revenge on the goddess. That's why I joined up with R.U.N. so I could… well look at that! We're here!"

The train slowed until it didn't move at all, and the doors opened to reveal an underground military base. Weary soldiers wearing worn out battle gear were wandering about, either patrolling the halls with a rifle in hand, or just chatting around with each other.

"PRIVATE ROB!" a gruff soldier shouted towards Shadow's friend "what is the meaning of this?!"

"S-Sergeant Madison" the cloaked man stuttered while giving a salute "I can explain…"

"You better! I told you a million times not to use the underground train without clearance! And who is this weirdo?"

"This is the heretic that escaped from Charity City prison. I thought I'd send him here to recruit for our cause."

"Recruit?" said Shadow "you never said anything about recruitment!"

Sgt. Madison looked at the hedgehog very carefully. "Hmm, so it is the heretic. Alright, I check with the commander about recruiting this… thing. But don't try another stunt like this without permission, got it?!"

Rob nodded. Madison soon walked away. Both the black hedgehog and the cloaked cyborg waited for the sergeant to return. Suddenly, the two got out of the way as a flying soldier nearly collided into them. A large purple cat charged by, chasing after the flying soldier who now landed against a wall. The cat strangled the soldier with it's huge hands. A couple of other soldiers came in and stopped the feline from choking it's victim to death.

"That's Big the Cat" Rob told Shadow. "Don't mind him, he is a bit short tempered ever since his pet frog was killed. But man does his rage and strength make him one useful assault soldier."

As Big was being dragged away, Madison came back.

He says "the commander has approved of Shadow's recruitment and would like to see him. Welcome to the Rebel Unit of the Nation, heretic!"

The sergeant lead Shadow to commander's office. Inside, someone sat in a large chair, facing away from Shadow and Madison.

"What is your name, heretic?" asked the commander.

"Shadow. Shadow the Hedgehog" answered the ultimate life-form.

The chair swiveled around to reveal the commander's face. Ironically enough, it was the commander from G.U.N., the same one that had a grudge against Shadow. The hedgehog became nervous and wondered what would happen next.

"Shadow, eh?" said the commander as got out of his chair. "Interesting name for a black hedgehog."

Shadow was now confused. The white haired human acted as if he never recognized the hedgehog. Then again, it was better than being called a devil and getting eliminated.

"Well then, Shadow, I've heard about your little event in Charity City, and I'm impressed. You are just the soldier I need for the attack on Chaos Island!"

"Chaos Island?" wondered the hedgehog.

"It's a magical floating island and Maria's main base" spoke Madison. "It is well defend and is the main source for robot manufacturing. If we are able to gain control of it, Maria's army will weaken greatly."

"When will the attack begin?" Shadow wondered.

"Not until tomorrow morning" replied the commander. "Until then, get some rest for the big day. You are dismissed soldier."

Shadow gave a salute and left the office. Rob saw him and came over by the hedgehog's side.

"So, what happened in there?" asked the human as they kept walking.

Shadow said "I'm going a dangerous mission with a slim chance of survival. Nothing exciting, really."

-

To be continued.


	5. The Chapter Where Stuff Explodes

The sun rose over the ocean, a new day was approaching. Flying above the vast field of water was a rebel aircraft, containing a handful of elite soldiers. It's destination was Chaos Island, formally know as Angel Island before the goddess claimed it as her own. The highly trained troopers were locked and loaded to the teeth. One of these warriors was Shadow himself, who regained his full strength.

"Alright men, here's the low-down" the lead officer said loudly, "we go to the robot production factory and make a total mess of things. If anything that isn't your teammate gets in the way, blow it up to bits. Any questions? No? Good."

The aircraft arrived at Chaos Island and landed in the middle of a jungle. All the soldiers got out just as their ride took off. Everyone silently walked, holding their weaponry tightly.

The officer stated "be on the lookout for any hostiles."

"Like them?" a soldier asked pointing an oncoming wave of robots.

"Yeah, like… OH CRUD!"

The quiet jungle became rather noisy as bullets were fired. The humans and hedgehog ducked behind large trees while blasting at their metal foes. Dozens of robots fell to the ground, and the last one standing started to hover and took off.

"he's going to alert our presence!" someone shouted.

"I'll go after him" Shadow spoke. Before any of the humans could reply, he was already in pursuit.

The retreating robot was faster than the hedgehog expected, but he was getting closer every second. He then did a homing attack on the machine when he was close enough. The impact caused the robot to break apart.

"Well that takes care of that problem" Shadow said to himself.

That's when he noticed he was in front of a much larger group of robots. They turned on and aimed at Shadow.

"Looks like I got a bigger problem."

He jumped in the air just as the ground below was blown to smithereens. Shadow fired his machine gun and turned all the bots into scrap metal. Just as he ran out of ammo, more enemies came after him. The hedgehog threw his empty gun at the closet robot, then charged towards and let loose his fists of fury. Damage was being done, but Shadow was getting overwhelmed by all the attackers. A laser pierced his leg, and he collapsed in agony.

He was immediately surrounded by robots with guns pointed to his head. Things looked bad for him, but suddenly rocket blasted several of the cybernetics. The other robots turned their attention to the new attacker, but they were destroyed by another rocket. Shadow stood up and saw his saviors were the R.U.N. soldiers he left behind a while ago, along with someone else…

"Emerl?!" Shadow shouted, looking at the brightly colored robot with a rocket launcher attached to it's arm. "What is he doing here?"

A soldier replied "the Gizoid? We found it in a base months ago and programmed it to help us out. We were going to send it out as a reinforcement, but with you running into trouble I guess we brought it sooner than we expected. And why did you call it Emerl? Do you know it or something?"

CLOMP!

"Shh!" whispered the leading officer "there's something big over there. Let's check it out."

The group consisting of soldiers, a hedgehog, and a robot went through a dense bush. On the other side was the robot production factory, along with a humongous four-legged robot clomping around.

A trooper whispered "that must be the factory's guardian."

Another trooper whispered "do you think it knows we're here?"

Yet another trooper whispered "judging from the energy cannon that's charging up and pointed toward us, I'd say YES!"

Everyone scattered as a orb of plasma vaporized the bush they were in. While half the soldiers hid and the other half plus Emerl fired at the giant robot, Shadow headed towards the new threat. He ran up one of it's legs and got on top of it. Once there, he broke through it's metal surface and went inside. The hedgehog discovered a cockpit with the controls unoccupied.

"Where's the pilot?" thought Shadow.

He got his answer with a sharp punch in the back. After picking himself up, the black hedgehog turned around and saw Knuckles the Echidna wearing silver armor.

"Say your prayers before I pummel you to dust" Knuckles said.

This wasn't good. Shadow has heard the red echidna was a formable fighter. Then against, he's also suppose to be very gullible. That's when Shadow had an idea.

The hedgehog made an angry face and shouted "is this your way of treating the factory inspector?!"

The echidna's eyes widen and his fists lowered. "Factory inspector?" he said "S-sorry sir, but I thought you were an intruder."

"An intruder, eh? Well I'll you off this time. Now, after closely examining the robot manufacturing, I have discovered that the robots are very shoddy and easily break apart. I am sorry to say but you will need to destroy the factory."

"Destroy it? But sir, my boss would be furious at me…"

"Are you questioning my motives?"

"N-n-no sir. I'll get right on it!"

Knuckles turned the giant robot towards the factory and fired a couple of plasma shots. There was soon multiple explosions and the factory was nothing more than rubble.

"Good work, kid. Now go take a vacation or something."

"If you say so, Mr. Factory Inspector."

Knuckles showed Shadow the way out then moved the huge robot to who knows where. The R.U.N. troops soon came to the hedgehog's side with shocked expressions on their faces. (Except for Emerl since it didn't have much of a face.)

"That was incredible!" the officer shouted "how did you do it?"

Shadow replied "it's a little to explain."

"Either way, you did us all a great help. Now we better get out of here before Maria's second-in-command finds out about this mess."

"Second-in-command? Is on the island as well?"

"Yes, but the mission is complete and we don't need to go after- HEY! GET BACK HERE! IF YOU LEAVE NOW WE WON'T COME BACK FOR YOU! YOU HEAR ME?"

Shadow heard him, and didn't care. The second-in-command probably has information on Maria, and he's going after it.

-

To be continued.


	6. The Truth

-1Guessing where the main base was wasn't really that hard. Shadow went to the location of the Master Emerald shrine and found a building standing where the shrine should be. Spotting no robots or any other enemy, the black hedgehog went indoors.

The inside of the base appeared to be a laboratory. All sorts of gadgets laid on various tables, just waiting to become something extraordinary. In the middle of the inventions was the glorious Master Emerald, hooked to some machine as an energy source. Shadow had no need for the giant green jewel right now, he had to find the head of Chaos Island. He heard something in the next room and went to investigate. Peeking around the corner, the ultimate life-form saw Dr. Eggman tinkering away on some of unfinished robot.

"So the doctor is the second-in-command" Shadow quietly whispered to himself. "Figured as much, being a genius and related to Maria. Who else could it have been?"

"IVO!!!" screamed a young yet enraged sounding voice.

Eggman jolted away from his work to face somebody coming over. That somebody was a fox pup with two tails who wore a lab coat. It was Tails!

"What is the matter, Mr. Prowler?" asked the older human with a look of fear on his face.

Tails grimaced, and shouted "didn't I tell you to repair the isle security system the other day?!" 

"Yes, but you see I was preoccupied with the prototype Enforcatron 600X and was unable to-"

"You idiot! Thanks to you some heretics came and demolished our factory!"

"I'm sorry, Miles Prowler, it was a mistake I swear!"

"You're dang right it is! If you weren't our almighty Maria's cousin you'd be scrambled instantly!"

"Please forgive me, I'll repair the robot production factory I soon as I can!"

"Oh don't think your getting away that easily! I have PLENTY of other things I have to discuss with you…"

While the fox complained and the man cowardly listened, Shadow was getting impatient. He took laser gun off of one table and shot a beam right between the two scientists, instantly catching their attention.

The hedgehog spoke clearly "nobody move, unless you want a hole in your head."

"An intruder?!" gasped the fox boy. Tails smacked Eggman in the face and said "look what you did now, you buffoon!"

"Shut up!" yelled Shadow. "Now I know you two are Maria's best minions, and I have a hunch you know a thing or two about her. How did she become a goddess? Why does she have so much power? I want to know!"

"Don't ask me" reply Tails. "I'm her right-hand general and wasn't even born when she took over."

Eggman sobbed "please don't hurt us! There's a disk that my grandfather gave to me when I was young! It has information on Maria's origins, I swear! Its by the big computer monitor over there in the next room!"

The oval bellied doctor got smacked again by his smaller boss. Shadow went to the next room where the disk was, and closed the door so he wouldn't be disturbed. Inserting the disk into a slot, the computer's screen asked for password. The black hedgehog thought for a moment, then typed down Ma-Ri-A. The password was accepted, and the screen turned blank. A video soon started playing of an old man facing towards the camera.

"If this message is being played, then most likely you are ruled by a deity known as Maria Robotnik. I am her grandfather, Gerald Robotnik. If you are curious to know of how she became who she is now, then listen to my tale of woe. It all started when I was a researcher working for the old government. My latest project given from the president was Project Shadow, the creation of immortality. I didn't want to do as it could have been easily abused, but back then Maria was diagnosed with a disease with no known cure and I would have done anything to save her. I used the newly-built space colony ARK to do my researching, not to mention Maria's sickness didn't harm her in this environment. With the help of ancient lore and mystical artifacts, I was able to make progress with my work. I managed to make a prototype, but it was very primal and required a life-support system to live. After that, I had no idea what to do. Fortunately, I encountered… an ally who could help me with my research. With the assistance of my new friend, we were able to create the ultimate life-form named Shadow the Hedgehog. Shadow was a very nice creature and Maria had a grand liking to him. All was wonderful in the ARK, but it didn't last long. Due to a couple of experiment-involved accidents, the government decided to take action. I was taken in custody, and nearly all the civilians occupying in the space colony were killed. Thankfully, Maria and Shadow escaped the ARK before the attack began. Not wanting the public to what happened in the space colony ARK, the president offered to bail me out of prison as long as Maria and Shadow and I kept our mouths shut, which we did. Now with the government leaving us alone, I started to work on a cure for Maria. It proved long and hard without the tools I had in the ARK, but with Shadow's support and Maria's hope I pulled through. The cure and ironically enough it was under my nose the whole time. Using Shadow's blood cells, I created a vaccine that fused with Maria's blood and ultimately eliminated her illness. Relieved to know that she would live a long and healthy life, I brought Maria back to her family were she belonged, and I took Shadow with her since they were best friends. I thought the worst was now over, but I was terribly, terribly wrong. About six years after I cured my granddaughter, I got a call from my son to find out that Shadow was murdered. I was shocked and saddened, and from I heard Maria took it much harder. She blamed the government for her friend's death, and she would make sure she made them pay. I didn't know what she would do until I saw it on the news when the presidential office was in flames. Maria had possession of seven of the mystic artifacts that were once aboard the ARK, the Chaos Emeralds. Having one emerald could make you powerful, having all of them made you unstoppable. I couldn't believe what I was watching on television as I saw my sweet Maria viciously slaughter every soldier that got in her way. It only took her ten minutes to destroy all the leaders of the government, yet she still wasn't satisfied. Declaring herself the new president, Maria forced what was left of our nation's army and declared war on every other country. Soon, she ruled the entire world. But everyone was against her, and she wanted to put a stop to it. So, she somehow brainwashed everyone to forget their past then believed that Maria was their goddess. Luckily, Maria spared my memory as appreciation for curing her illness. Ever since then, I keep getting older and weaker as I live in a large mansion filled with beautiful female servants who won't allow me to leave. I regret everything I done that led to this new world order, and I beg for forgiveness to those who suffered from my actions. Now you know the truth, and I can finally rest in peace with my last words spoken."

Then the video shut off. Shadow now knew everything, why Maria is a goddess, why the R.U,N. commander didn't recognize him, and why the world has been changed for the worse. And of above all things, the ultimate life-form was MURDERED! It was time to head straight for the source, and he knew just how to do it.

Going back into the room containing the second-in-command and his lackey, Shadow demanded "I want to see Maria and I want to see her NOW!"

"What a coincidence" Tails said with a sly grin on his face "we were just going to take you to her."

The black hedgehog wondered what the two-tailed fox meant, and he soon found out when an unnoticed Artificial Chaos disarmed Shadow and pulled him into it's liquid stomach.

-

To be continued.


	7. Maria

Shadow patiently waited inside the body of an Artificial Chaos. He could easily break out of his jelly-like prison, but there was no need as it was taking him just where he wanted to go. Using a teleporter powered by the Master Emerald, the ultimate life-form and the imitation of the water god arrived at their place of creation, the space colony ARK.

The black hedgehog almost didn't recognize his birth home due to some major decorations. With golden statues of angels and stain glassed portraits around every corner, the space station now looked more like a religious shrine than a research center. Among the unfamiliar sights were the Black Arms creatures toiling around and doing their own things.

The Artificial Chaos silently hovered through the ARK. It eventually arrived in a dimly lit area and stopped to a halt.

"You may release him" a stern female voice said from the shadows.

The fake Chaos released Shadow, then took off without a sound. The black hedgehog peered into the darkness in front of him to barely see someone sitting on a throne.

"So, you are alive are you?" the voice spoke again. "That is very, very good to know."

Shadow stood still. Thoughts bubbled in his head, many of them questions of doubt. He decided to say "is that you… Maria?"

"Yes, my dear Shadow. I am Maria."

A small light flashed over Maria, and Shadow got a good view of her. She looked like and eighteen year-old, with her hair brightly blond and her eyes sparkling blue. She wore a long blue robe wrapped around in an assortments of silver necklaces and chains. On top of her head was a tiara made of what appeared to be Chaos Drives. To Shadow, this new Maria looked enchantingly gorgeous.

"I have heard from reliable sources that you oppose me, care to explain?" the goddess asked.

The hedgehog got out of his trace from staring at Maria and responded "yes, I have been against you but have good reason to. People are forced to worship you and they get harshly punished for even the pettiest of crimes!"

"I do not see what you are talking about. Aren't people happy to worship me? Shouldn't criminals get what they deserve?"

"You're not getting the point! This isn't like you ruling the world with an iron fist!"

"Ah, but that is where you are mistaken. You believe I'm still the girl you knew on the space colony ARK. The fact is Shadow people grow up and their views in life change. I may have a pacifist in my younger years, but now I am willing to use violence to get what I want."

Shadow shook slightly. "No, this isn't you. It's my blood that cured your illness, that's the reason! The despair from my death must have caused it's dark powers to make you into this! Now that I'm back, we can go and save you from…"

Maria interrupted with a loud sigh. "You are in denial, making up theories instead of accepting the truth. In fact, I was aware of your blood's evil, and I know where it came from. Yes, I knew about Black Doom along, the worthless alien couldn't even stop his army from betraying him and serving me instead. To be honest, I changed even before I was cured. You see Shadow, the only reason I truly liked you was because I knew what profits you would give me. The gift of immortality, the knowledge of the Chaos Emeralds' abilities. Your cure wasn't enough for me, I wanted more, I NEEDED more. And there was only one way to do that…"

The ultimate life-form's pupils shrank, then asked "y-you mean, t-that you…?"

"…were the one responsible for your death" finished Maria, with a pleased smirk on her face. "Oh yes, I slit your throat and drank your wonderful blood. Every last drop. I could already feel myself turn stronger then I could possibly imagine. You were a great friend, but you were a much better meal."

Shadow finally lost it and screamed. He did a homing attack to the girl he thought he once knew, but was swatted away unexpectedly. He fell to the floor backwards and rolled a few times before stopping. Wondering what just countered his attack, Shadow looked to discover his prototype, the Biolizard, was underneath Maria's throne. In fact, the throne was connected to the Biolizard's life support system!

The goddess laughed in amusement. "Oh poor Shadow, the ultimate life-form nothing more than a pathetic animal! Still, how you is it that your alive despite me draining your blood dry? Oh well, you always have some secrets that I never found out. But now that your alive again, I can harvest you once more and become TWICE AS POWERFUL! And this time, I'll make sure that I rip you into pieces, just to be safe."

The Biolizard roared in fury and stomped towards Shadow. The hedgehog tried to stand up, but was knocked down by a pink sphere the large reptile produced. So this was the end of Shadow the Hedgehog, dying from the hands of the one he did everything for. He sighed, since he tampered with the past to save that heartless female's life this is what he probably deserves. Shadow lied on the ground waiting to be torn apart by the Biolizard's maw.

"YAHOO!!!"

Just as death was a second away, something blue landed on the Biolizard's head. The eyeless lizard became agitated and attempted to shake the blue thing was, but with no avail.

"Giddy up, horsey!" the blue thing shouted.

The Biolizard shook even harder, but the thing wouldn't get off. The reptile shook so hard Maria was tossed out of her throne. Finally, the blue object decided to jump off and land next to the downed ruler. The blue thing, as you probably guessed, was Sonic the Hedgehog!

"Hello Maria!" Sonic said cheerfully "did I interrupt anything?"

"YOU!" the goddess shouted in annoyance "how did you manage to get back here?!"

"I accidentally stumbled on to some warp device and ended up here. Oh, and by the way I kind of broke a few things on my way here, hope you don't mind."

"DAMN YOU SONIC THE HEDGEHOG! GET HIM, BIOLIZARD!"

The prototype complied and charged after the blue hedgehog. Sonic easily avoided the slow reptile and dodged all it's pink spheres. The Biolizard began to tire out, which then Sonic struck back and damaged the life -support. Pain erupted from the prototype's mouth and soon it slowly fled, not wanting to deal with the hedgehog it couldn't catch up with.

"NOOOOOO!!!" Maria screamed in fury. "WHY MUST YOU LIVE TO IRRITATE ME?"

Sonic shrugged and replied "I dunno, guess it's because I have nothing better to do."

That answered angered Maria more. Suddenly, the goddess pulled out all the Chaos Emeralds from her robe, a psychotic smile growing across her cheeks. "This has gone long enough" Maria said spiteful to Sonic "I am your goddess and I demand respect! Now you will die after all the heresy you have done, with the power of the seven Chaos Emeralds I will smite your soul to nothing! You hear me?! Now I, Maria Robotnik, the goddess of Earth, shall complete what my servants have failed countless times and finally kill-"

Sonic got bored of her speech and spun around so quickly she was caught in a miniature tornado. The emeralds flew from her grasp and scattered around, and soon the whirlwind dispersed and Maria fell face first. She groaned as her head ached, and as she stood up she wondered why it was so cold all of a sudden. The goddess found out when she looked down and noticed her robe gone, revealing her white silk lingerie. She gasped in embarrassment and tried covering up her cleavage.

Sonic sang "I see London, I see France, I see Maria's underpants!"

Maria stared at Sonic before running at him with her face filled with hatred. She leapt high into the air and pulled out her left leg aiming towards Sonic's head. Then… she froze in midair. Sonic had no idea what just happened, but then he saw a black hedgehog that almost looked like him holding seven emeralds.

"I never thought Chaos Control could freeze time on a single person" Shadow said to himself.

"So you're saying she's stuck like this?" Sonic spoke in curiosity. The blue hedgehog wanted to find out for himself, so he grabbed Maria's leg that was intended for the hedgehog's face. Pulling the time-frozen lady down to the ground, Sonic gave her a powerful slap, and was very satisfied when she didn't respond. "Sweet!"

Shadow groaned at the childish hedgehog. Of all the people to be the least effected in this altered reality, it just had to be Sonic.

The blue hedgehog stretched his arms and yawned. "Well, it's been fun but I'm beat" said Sonic "see you later!" And with that Sonic ran off.

Now Shadow all by himself, if you don't count Maria that is. He wondered now that the almighty goddess was frozen in time for all eternity life will be for the better. But he doubted that. Without their goddess to worship, the people of Earth will go crazy. And what if someone else claimed Maria's spot and became an even worse dictator? Not only that, but everyone else has been changed too, except for Sonic unfortunately. Shadow's decision was made, he had to undone what he has done in the past. He held two of the seven Chaos Emeralds to go back in time.

"CHAOS CONTROL!!!"

-

To be continued.


	8. The Rest Is History

Shadow watched the same sunset he viewed before his little adventure began. Now that the present was back to normal, life was peaceful and nobody worshipped some crazy dictator believing to be a god. The hedgehog doesn't quite exactly remember what he did in the past to clean up the mess he made, but he didn't mind now that everything was the way they were suppose to be.

The ultimate life-form spoke "what a lovely sight. The orange sky over the peaceful canyon, it's simply amazing. Aren't you glad I brought you here Maria?"

The person beside Shadow didn't respond, but the black hedgehog took that as a 'yes.' Apparently, Shadow brought a souvenir from the alternative present. The adult Maria was still frozen in time, but her animal friend put her robe back on and changed her face to a content smile.

The two continued staring at the sunset. Half an hour later, the sun sank away from sight and night surrounded the canyon landscape.

"Let's go home" Shadow said quietly. He lifted the human lady and disappeared in a bright light. A second later, they reappeared to the space colony ARK. The hedgehog walked around in the metal corridors of the space colony until he found the room he was looking for. The automatic door opened and Shadow turned on the light to reveal the room to be Maria's old bedroom.

He placed the time-frozen woman on the nearby bed, then pulled the bed sheet from under Maria and placed it over her. After Shadow closed her eyes, Maria looked like she was sleeping, grinning about a pleasant dream.

The grown-up Maria looked just as lovely as Shadow first meet her. He knew her mind was filled with hate and destruction, but as long she was imprisoned in the effects of Chaos Control, she was still the little girl the ultimate life-form once knew.

Shadow decided this was where Maria will stay while he was out doing his usual business. He would visit her as often as possible, maybe even bring some new clothes to play dress-up with her. Sure, it may sound a bit perverted, but the ultimate life-form wasn't some teenage boy who would take advantage of a gorgeous female like Maria.

"Goodnight" Shadow said as he kissed Maria on the cheek. He turned off the lights and left, leaving the goddess to slumber undisturbed.

-

The end!


End file.
